Inquisition Diaries
by The Diaries Guild
Summary: Fanatics and crazies are beginning to appear all over New York. It's up to the Chosen Children to stop it, if they can manage to take things seriously for once.
1. The Call to Action

Colin bit his lip and concentrated on the powers in his bracer, fighting to get them under control as he grunted, "Just a little more…" But the surging power was too much for him. Flames slipped away from him, heading for Meramon. "No!" he shouted as he tried to pull it back into himself.

"Colin!" Meramon yelled in reply, seeing what Colin refused to, that everything was going wrong. Vamdemon took advantage of his distraction and struck hard and fast. Meramon collapsed, just barely alive.

"No!" Colin denied, as though it would help.

Suddenly, everything broke free from him. Intense fire surrounded him completely, and he screamed in agony as it tried to consume him entirely. Vamdemon watched in sick amusement as the flames died to reveal a barely living, badly burned Fire Lord dying on the scorched ground. Vamdemon smirked.

"It's all too easy sometimes," he remarked, walking past. He still had business with the other Chosen Children.

Colin pulled himself slowly and painfully over to Meramon, moaning in protest all the way. His partner was still breathing, but it was weak and forced.

"I'm sorry," Colin whispered. "I don't want anyone to die…for my dumb mistakes." He placed one hand on Meramon and placed the other against his heart. "I hope…you understand. My curse…"

He never finished his thought. Life Siphon, the power he'd long considered a curse, transferred the last of his life force into Meramon. But combined with the bracer of fire, it allowed Meramon to evolve to his Perfection level, Asuramon. Weakly, he got up and looked where his partner had been, but all that remained was the bracer.

Paul closed his eyes and sighed.

"Paul?" Wallace asked. Maureen hesitantly put a hand on Paul's shoulder, then yanked it away and started crying as her empathy revealed what he'd felt after scrying.

"It's that bad?" Al questioned past the lump in his throat.

"He couldn't control it," Paul answered. "He tapped into it too far."

Al stared at his own bracer, water, in fear. He'd come so close to dying so often when he was younger. Now would his own evolution item finish him off? Maureen had the same terror on her tear-streaked face as she looked at her earth bracer. Paul was calm and resolved as he stared at his wind bracer. Wallace's spirit bracer was the only one that wasn't dangerous. If they failed, he was their last hope.

"Maureen, what are you going to do?" Elecmon asked.

"Al?" Gomamon checked.

Penmon nudged Paul, who turned to see Wallace sitting in the grass, crying as he clutched Terriermon and Lopmon. _He shouldn't be here, _the Wind Lord thought for the umpteenth time.

"Al, Maureen, Wallace, let's go," he decided. "We'll regroup and try something else."

"No," Al replied darkly. They stared. "I'm going to stay and fight."

"You're not going to use your bracer?" Maureen cried.

"Al, please," Paul reasoned.

"Paul, this is our last chance. I'm going to fight, even if I have to do the same as Colin."

Maureen nodded. "So will I."

"And me," Wallace affirmed.

"Wallace, no, you can't!" Paul argued. "I'm getting you out of here!"

"That's probably best," Maureen agreed.

Wallace stared at them as if they'd betrayed him to the enemy. They were watching him sternly. Finally, Paul spoke:

"We're staying."

Inquisition Diaries  
By Akino Ame  
Based on "Digital City Diaries" by Shaun Garin and Ryan Griffin  
Disclaimer: _Digimon _belongs to Toei Entertainment and is distributed by Disney.

Warning: This is rated PG-13/T for DCD stuff and "Survival Diaries" stuff. It also contains spoilers for both.

Entry One: "The Call to Action"

Morning in the Roberts household meant one thing: chaos.

"Stop throwing that cereal!"

"Annie, get back here! You're not leaving without pants!"

"Sam, this weekend I want you to look at those investments."

"Dad! Can't I eat breakfast without hearing this?"

"Don't take that tone with your father!"

"Sammy's in trouble!"

"Shut up, Phil!"

"Stop yelling at your brother!"

Thirteen-year-old Sam seethed in anger and grabbed his book bag. "That's it! I'm leaving!"

"You haven't even eaten breakfast," his mother protested.

"I'll eat something at Steve's. The Smiths are always happy to have me around for breakfast. Besides, the others are there right now."

Irritated and angry, he stormed out of the apartment to see Steve Smith standing outside his own apartment. The fourteen-year-old had a slight grin.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Think you can be any louder next time?" he joked. "Some of us still have our eardrums."

His stress leaving him, Sam met his grin. "Sure. Just for you, I'll launch a nuke next time."

Steve's grin was even wider. "Thanks, you're a pal!" He opened the door. "Come on! I'm just downloading some _Naruto_ for tomorrow night, but we've got breakfast and videogames."

Inside already were Michael Godwin, Lou Stoneheart, and the newest addition to their group, Maria Sanchez. The guys had originally gotten together as a support group for the over-stressed Lou, but they were settling quite well as Maria's big brothers. Currently, Michael was eating a bagel and reading the paper while Maria and Lou were playing videogames.

"Hey, Sam," Michael greeted.

"Yeah, hi," Lou added.

"Hi," ten-year-old Maria put in, a second before crashing her virtual car. She groaned, turned, and pointed at Sam. "Now see what you've done!"

"Oh, yeah, that's definitely enough videogames for you," Lou decided.

Sam walked over to the table and sat down, slamming his head onto the wood. He then repeated the gesture over and over. Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Is there any particular reason you're imitating Dobby today?" he checked.

"Shut up and pass me a bagel" was the muffled reply.

* * *

Paul Campbell, Wind Lord and leader of the Chosen Children of New York, stood atop the barn of the Cherub family farm, staring off into the distance. The wind brought him images of the near future from the city in the distance. So far, there were only minor problems—traffic jams, kids being idiots, the occasional black belt grandma beating down a would-be pickpocket… 

"Hey!" shouted a voice from below.

Paul, suddenly wakened from his daze, lost his footing and slipped off the roof. In a split-second, his bracer appeared on his arm, and he created a miniature whirlwind to break his fall. Twelve-year-old Wallace Cherub grinned.

"Good," he commented. "You're finally starting to abuse your power. Last time, you had to land in a pile of hay."

Paul got to his feet and dusted himself off, his bracer disappearing from his arm. "In case you forgot, I also broke my wrist and my nose _and_ dislocated my shoulder. Al actually charged me for healing my injuries. It was not fun."

"Yeah, okay, I'll give you that, but you were acting like Zordon with his 'never use your powers for personal gain' rule. We're not Power Rangers. We're Chosen Children. What's the fun of not using our powers?"

He grabbed a bale of hay and with Paul's help, carried it into the barn and up into the loft. They then spread it across the floor and set out five blankets.

"You're sure it's going to happen today?" Wallace checked.

Paul nodded. "I haven't seen anything yet, but when the fire bracer disappears from Jijimon's…"

"Yeah," Wallace agreed.

"Just be ready with Rapidmon as soon as you get out of school," he advised. "And what did they say on the message board?"

"The usual. Carter and Koushiro want to dissect me _and _my new D-3, Hikari agrees me getting a D-3 is a sign and warns me to be careful, and James said something unintelligible about jaguars. They _are,_ however, hoping the new Fire Lord will help ease some of the pain since Colin's death."

"Yeah," Paul commented quietly. To avoid getting depressed, he asked, "No comments about being a god-modding Chosen Child?"

"Actually, Al said it this time. Hence Koushiro wanting to dissect me."

"Ah."

Wallace walked over to the old computer he'd convinced his parents to store in the barn for Chosen business. It could do two things: open portals to the Digital World and crash. He needed the former right now as opposed to the latter.

"Your parents are okay with having all the Digimon here, right?" Paul questioned.

"Of course," he assured. "As long as all of them aren't here for too long. Mama and Dad have no problem with Terriermon and Lopmon because they've been with me forever. Gomamon, Elecmon, and Penmon, however…" The computer finally started, and he placed his red-and-green D-3 in front of the screen. "Stand back. I have no idea what I'm doing. Digi-port open!"

There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly, a Lighdramon appeared in the barn, standing on top of Wallace.

"What just happened?" the Lighdramon asked.

"Sorry," Paul apologized. "Wrong place, wrong time." Wallace got up and nodded.

"Let me try again. Digi-port open!"

This time, it was a Numemon, but Wallace managed to get it back before it could cause any trouble. However, it was messy business, so he stared at his hands in horror.

"I've been slimed!"

"Be lucky it wasn't shit," Paul advised. "Try it again."

"Right. Digi-port open!"

Two Pandamon and a Bastemon came through.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Lighdramon checked.

"Of course not," Wallace answered cheerfully. "I'm a Chosen Child. I'm _supposed _to wing it."

"Uh, Wallace, think you can hurry this up?" Paul questioned. He was looking highly uncomfortably and was blushing madly. "That Bastemon wants me to be the father of her child."

"Sure. I'll find Asuramon. His usual area is next."

Unfortunately, it was not, as three Frogmon, six Otamamon, a Betamon, a Mermaimon, and a splash of water joined them. Wallace sprayed saltwater out of his mouth and muttered, _"Next_ portal."

This time, he did manage to get Asuramon, who stared at the gathering in confusion.

"What's going on here?" he questioned.

"Nothing," Paul replied, gesturing toward Wallace. "Noah here is just trying to fill up his Ark before the flood comes."

"Do you know where the others are?" Wallace asked.

"They're at the Verasian River, three portals from my area," he answered.

"You're _sure_ it's there?" Paul checked.

"Yes."

"Whoops!" Wallace declared as he put his D-3 too close to the screen. Al Kingston was lying dazed on the floor.

"I don't even want to know how that happened," Paul decided.

"Me either," Al agreed as he stood up. "That's the last time I go on the computer when Wallace is screwing with the digi-ports." He took a look around. "Is our esteemed god-modding Spirit Lord trying to farm Digimon, or is it just me?"

"Your esteemed Spirit Lord is trying to get our Digimon," Wallace explained through gritted teeth.

"My advice: stand back and avoid the horny Bastemon," Paul whispered.

"Can't," Al replied. "I've got to get home. Can anyone give me a ride?"

"Wait a minute and Rapidmon can take you," Wallace offered.

"Just get on my back," Lighdramon ordered. "Give me the directions, and I'll get you there."

"Are you sure?" Al asked.

"Look, I'm indignant about this, but it's better for both of us," he answered. "Judging by that kid's luck, he's going to unleash a horde of Numemon next. We had a close call before, and I don't want to go through it again."

"All right then," Al agreed quickly. "Let's go."

Lighdramon's advice had been for the best. Less than five seconds later, Wallace, Paul, their Digimon, and all the others in the barn had to fight off a sudden swarm of shit-slinging Numemon. When it was over, Wallace and Paul collapsed to the ground.

"So, whose job is it to get all these guys home?" Wallace questioned.

"Oh God," Paul commented suddenly as he divined another image.

"What?" Wallace asked.

"It's happening sooner than I expected!"

"Right now?" He nodded. "Can I get there in time?"

"No," Paul sighed. "And your Fate Manipulation might prevent the good as well as the bad." He sighed again. "During your lunch period, take Rapidmon and rush over to their school, King of Kings. Then confront him, let him know what he's getting into."

"All right," Wallace agreed. "But one thing—" He closed his eyes and tried to picture the threads of fate of all the people involved in their situation. Two were beginning to cross ominously, so he quickly grabbed another and tied it in the middle of them, slightly changing the outcome. When he opened his eyes, Paul was giving him a stern look. "I didn't ruin anything. Actually, I made it a little easier for the new guy. With more people involved, he'll have other people to rely on."

"What about the relationship between the two you manipulated?"

"It's pretty much the same, only a little deeper now. Besides, she's used to being 'one of the guys' too long to think that way about him." He stopped for a moment and shuddered. "Although, if Mimi's father _had_ taken that transfer to New York…"

"Some thoughts are better left unthunk," Paul advised, placing his hand on his "little brother's" shoulder. "Now let's get this guys out of here before your mom finds out."

* * *

Things seemed tense at King of Kings Parochial School. Sam didn't know exactly how to describe it, but things felt _wrong._ The tension was so thick that he could cut it with a knife—even a lightsaber for that matter. At lunch, when he normally met with his older friends, he didn't see Lou. Michael and Steve where there, but not Lou. In fact, they reported that he had been missing throughout most of class. 

"He looked kind of sick when he got into our first class," Michael remembered. "Sister Antonia sent him to the bathroom halfway through, when he started to throw up."

"I went in to check on him earlier," Steve added. His voice was unusually serious. "He…didn't look good."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. Never before had Steve been so vague.

"Well, I didn't want to mention it to anyone, but we're his best friends, so…" he confessed. "He was crying a lot more than he was throwing up. He also put a fist through the mirror."

"Damn," Michael breathed. "What could make him snap like that?"

"Really," Sam agreed.

"I don't know," Steve admitted. "I tried at least to get him to visit Sister Cecilia to take care of his hand, but…"

"Sam, you should try talking to him," Michael suggested. "You've known him the longest. You were his first friend. If anyone's got a chance of finding out what's wrong, it's you."

"Okay," he decided. "I'll go find out."

He walked alone toward the boys' restroom, wondering why his normally neutral friend had suddenly become so violent. Things were _always_ bad at the Stonehearts', but what had been so bad that he burst out like that? Sam had just put his hand on the door handle when he heard a loud cry of "Oh shit!" down the hall.

A boy his age, maybe younger, was running like mad toward him. Two things immediately jumped out at Sam: one, that he was dressed in a maroon T-shirt and blue jeans instead of the school's uniform, and two, that he was apparently being chased by an eight-foot-tall green rabbit-like creature and a three-headed monster dog.

"Run!" the kid screamed and Sam, being the sensible young man he was, spun around and dashed the other way.

"Hell Fire!' shouted a voice behind him. Sam chanced a look behind him to see emerald green flames blazing right toward him and the blonde kid. Out of instinct, Sam raised an arm to protect himself and…

Felt nothing. The flames had bounced off of something.

"The hell?" he questioned. The blonde kid was next to him, also unharmed. A thin orange shield was blocking them from the fire, and from the look of it, the small-scale force field was made of fire as well. More strangely, Sam was wearing a silver armband inlaid with gold engraving and red and orange gems, and in his hand was a red-and-gold device. But before he could do anything, the boy beside him literally picked him up and hefted him over his shoulder, despite the fact that they shared the same short height.

"Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask!" the kid chanted, making a beeline down the hallway. They ran right through the cafeteria with everyone staring blankly at them. "Where's the nearest computer?"

"The library," he stammered. "It's dead ahead. Why?"

"Would you believe it's a matter of saving the world?"

"What?"

"Yep," the crazy blonde kid answered, finally entering the library. He set Sam down in front of an iMac. "I'm Wallace Cherub, Spirit Lord. Welcome to the Chosen Children, Sam Roberts."

"Chosen Children?" he repeated.

"Well, technically you're only a Digi-destined. You don't have any powers, at least, none that anyone could see."

"And how do you know my name?"

"Another of us can use divination," Wallace explained. "He sent me to get you, since I've got the fastest Digimon. Well, actually, two Digimon, but this jogress works best for speed. And, of course, Paul didn't exactly predict that I'd get attacked by a Cerberumon on the way." He held up a green-and-red device much like Sam's. "Chosen and Digi-destined are teamed with Digimon partners in order to protect both this world and the Digimon's world, the Digital World. A lot of what we do involves a digivice. This is a D-3, a type of digivice that lets us open portals to the Digital World by using the computer." He glanced at the iMac. "You might want to stand back. If I screw up, I might get every Digimon in Tal Veras here. Again."

"Tal Veras?"

"Our domain. It's basically the Digital World version of Manhattan, only not overrun by a city. I'll explain the details later." He held his D-3 to the screen. "Please work this time! Digi-port open!"

A white light engulfed them, momentarily blinding Sam. He blinked and rubbed his tearing eyes as it faded to reveal a light gold mini T-rex next to Wallace.

"You're kidding me!" the Spirit Lord declared.

"Nice to see you too," the T-rex answered.

"The hell?" Sam shouted.

"Sam, meet your partner, Agumon," Wallace introduced.

"And all this time I've been Asuramon's apprentice," Agumon muttered, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."

"Asuramon?" Sam questioned.

"Partner to the last Fire Lord," Wallace replied. "You're the new one. That bracer you're wearing proves it."

"What happened to the last?"

"Oh, he tried to tap too far into the bracer's power and it burned him alive," he explained in a casual tone.

Sam stared at the bracer in horror and exclaimed, "This thing's gonna kill me?"

"It can't," he assured. "You don't have any powers to screw with it. Colin basically U-Factored."

"U-Factored?"

"I'll explain later," Wallace promised. "Right now, you're getting a crash course in evolution." He gestured to Agumon. "He's going to evolve to help you, but only if you share your energy with him. Your digivice will be the link between you. See how it's blinking like that? It usually happens when you or someone important to you is in danger nearby, so your partner can evolve to save them or you."

"Lou's still in the bathroom!" Sam remembered.

"Guess that's what I have to protect," Agumon commented as light flared from the digivice. "Agumon evolve! FlareLizamon!"

Sam stared. Where five seconds ago had been a small tyrannosaurus, now there stood a fiery lizard creature. Wallace merely remarked, "Thank God it wasn't Greymon. If Yagami Taichi from the Odaiba team was here, you wouldn't have a school left. Come on!"

And so Wallace, Sam, and FlareLizamon ran through the cafeteria again. As he passed Michael and Steve, Sam gave them a look that promised he'd talk to them later. Meanwhile, Steve looked at his milk carton.

"You think this went bad?" he asked Michael, who maintained a blank stare.

Back at the battle, Rapidmon was still fighting Cerberumon and was blowing up nearly everything as he tried to score a blow. Miraculously, however, the bathroom remained intact. With a shout of "Banzai!" FlareLizamon jumped in to the melee and started adding to the mayhem with his Flame Hit and Flame Tower attacks.

"You might want to check up on your friend," Wallace suggested. "I'll try and keep the carnage contained." Sam had no idea how a short, skinny preteen was going to do that, but he held his tongue and ran into the bathroom.

"Lou?" he called. "Lou, you all right?"

The older boy wiped his eyes with his good hand. "Sam? What are you doing here? And what's with all the noise outside?"

"Um, that's not important," Sam replied. "What's wrong? Michael and Steve said you missed most of class and you've been crying and punching the mirror."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Wallace accidentally fell though the door. "Sorry 'bout that. We're almost done here. Hey, where's the chapel, by the way?"

"Downstairs to the left," Sam answered calmly. "You can't miss it."

"Thanks!" he replied, running out. Sam turned his attention back to a now confused Lou.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Not now. What is it you can't say?" Sam demanded. Lou was still hesitant. "Come on, I've been your best friend all my life! And Steve and Michael have been with you forever! We were there when you found out your cousin was on drugs and she tried to get you arrested with them. We defended you all those times kids thought you were the same as your family. Hell, we let you sleep on our couches when you couldn't take it at home! You're practically our brother, here, and most of our parents are ready to adopt you! What is so bad that you can't tell us about it? Your brothers?"

Lou sighed and closed his eyes as he sat on top of the counter. "I caught Fr. Tom trying to molest Maria."

Sam stared. "You're kidding."

"I wish I was. Things didn't get far—he was just starting to make his moves, but I knew what was going on. My relatives aren't exactly private about it. I know more about sexual situations and behavior than any thirteen-year-old should because of my family. He was beginning to touch her, and she was starting to realize what was going on. But when they saw me, he stopped and tried to explain. I grabbed Maria's arm and stormed out of there. She was scared, so I took her home. And I couldn't exactly face my parents with all they've done, so I came back here for lack of a place to go."

Sam sank to the floor. "Oh God."

"The worst part is that I trusted him," Lou added. "I trusted that man with my life, and I told him everything about me. Then he goes and does something like that. It's betrayal." Suddenly, there was a shout of "Augh! I'm dead!" from outside. "What the hell was that?"

"FlareLizamon, Rapidmon, and Wallace must have finished with that Cerberumon," Sam remarked blandly, standing up.

"Wha, who, Wallace, and what?" Lou questioned. Wallace then burst back in.

"Downstairs on the left, right?"

"Right."

"All right," he answered, activating his bracer. "Galgomon, Wendimon, switch Perfections!"

"Wendimon!"

"Galgomon!"

"Jogress evolve! Antiramon!"

At this point, Sam and Lou had just left the bathroom while Michael and Steve had come to find their friends. The four boys blinked and gaped at the sight of the very tall and very long-limbed rabbit, Wallace sitting relaxed on its neck.

"Oh, you might want to get your friend Maria and meet me at the chapel," he commented. "I'll try and hold off until you get there. I've got to figure out how to get Cherubimon close enough to that priest anyway." As he and Antiramon bounded off, all eyes turned to Sam and FlareLizamon for an explanation.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Sam declared. "I still haven't gotten any answers!"

"Here's the short version," FlareLizamon informed, completely ignoring the stares he was getting. "Sam's a Digi-destined, I'm his partner."

"Um, let's go get Maria now," Michael decided.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "At least she's only a block away. We might have a chance of stopping Wallace and his Digimon from eating Fr. Tom."

"They'll get indigestion if they try," Lou remarked bitterly. At Steve's and Michael's questioning stares, he added, "I'll explain on the way."

* * *

It was frankly amazing just how easy it was to get Maria and return to the school in less than ten minutes. Pedestrians fled from them as they raced down the streets. FlareLizamon chalked it up to his winning personality, and Sam gave him a cynical glare out of the corner of his eye. Maria stifled a giggle while Steve commented on how doomed they were to have their sarcastic friend teamed with a sarcastic Digimon. Sam kicked him in the shins, and Steve hobbled the rest of the way to King of Kings. 

"Okay, seriously now," Steve interrupted. "Are we sure we want to stop Wallace from murdering Fr. Tom? I mean, after what you three just told us…"

"I'm tempted to just let him kill the guy, then help hide the body," Michael confessed.

They'd just about reached the church when Fr. Tom ran toward them, screaming at the top of his lungs, "The Angel of Death! It's the Angel of Death!" Upon seeing Maria, he dropped to his knees before her, praying, "Please, child, forgive me my sins! Please, show me there is some chance that the Lord can do the same!" She started backing up as he tugged at her skirt in desperation.

"Get your hands off her!" the boys chorused, and FlareLizamon released a vicious growl. Fr. Tom saw him and—

"Demon! It's a demon from Hell come for my soul!" He let go of Maria immediately and clasped his hands together as he looked at the sky. "Oh, merciful Jesus, take pity on me!"

"Nobody's going to take pity on you," boomed a voice. They all turned to see a rabbit Digimon even larger than Antiramon, but with an immense holy aura. It had been standing in front of the church and had now made its way over to them. "Least of all God." Fr. Tom, seeing the Digimon, gave out a cry and fainted.

"Is that…" Sam started.

"Yep," FlareLizamon answered. "It's still Antiramon, but Wallace evolved him to Cherubimon, his Ultimate level. I've never actually seen him in action, but Asuramon's told me about the times this 'god-modding Chosen Child' has evolved to Ultimate just because he can."

"My favorite evolution," Wallace confessed, appearing behind Cherubimon. "He's powerful and can maneuver a lot more easily than SaintGalgomon, Terriermon and Lopmon's other Ultimate level." At their shocked faces and Fr. Tom's dead faint, he asked, "What? You mean you've never seen a fifty-foot-tall rabbit-angel before? You city kids are weird!"

_

* * *

"In each timeline, there is a crux point, a single event in the past that caused all things after it to change. The more different the world, the earlier the crux point occurred._

_ "Choices, to left or to go right. When who dies and who lives is a split-second decision, the world can be changed in an instant. Where in the Diaries world the left path is taken, in this world it is the right._

_ "The Odaiba Chosen's crux point has already been explained in Edmonton's tale. This time, our story revolves around the team in New York. In this case, the decision made had a severe impact on the lives of three people and the psyche of another._

_ "In the Diaries world, five Chosen Children were sent to Tal Veras to prevent Vamdemon's uprising. Fire Lord Colin Archer sacrificed his life in that battle by tapping too deeply into his force bracer of fire. The impact this made on his teammates made Sea Lord Al Kingston and Lady of Earth Maureen Brown too unwilling to use their bracers in the next battle, a decision that cost them their lives. Wind Lord Paul Campbell evolved his partner to the Ultimate level, but it was not enough, and he died trying to prevent Vamdemon from killing Wallace. Wallace, traumatized by his friends' deaths, jogress-evolved his partners to their Ultimate levels, trying one form after the other to try and defeat Vamdemon. When it failed and Terriermon was the only one left standing, the Digimental of Fate appeared, evolving Terriermon to Rapidmon and buying Wallace the time he needed to take his friends' bracers and escape. He then encountered Jijimon and had him hide the bracers so that no one could ever use them. Vamdemon won that day, only to later be defeated by a second team, one composed of non-powered Digi-destined. Now a loner trying to forget his past, Wallace was later convinced to join the team when Jijimon and Benjamin were forced to give the Digi-destined the bracers after a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Dark Seed Chosen._

_ "As you can see, the crux point for this team is that Paul, Maureen, Al, and Wallace fought Vamdemon together, and none of them were afraid to use their bracers. As a result, they all survived, and Wallace never became as cold and aloof as Michael's team saw him. In addition, Mimi never moved to New York, so Maria adopted the guys as her big brothers as opposed to Mimi as her onee-chan. And because Michael's team was never drafted, they never quite lost as much of the innocence that their Diaries counterparts had. Because Maria still had those innocent qualities, Father Tom Sullivan, the same man they had trusted all their lives, was drawn to her and tried to 'share' in her purity. This has made her rather clingy to her friends and has altered her relationship with Lou most of all, who she later fell in love with in Diaries. Different outlooks and this spiking power in New York have warped their fates in such a way that a seemingly minor event in one world can become a massive war in the other."_

**Things to take note of here: Wallace's comment of "I've been slimed" was from _Ghostbusters._ And his meeting with Sam was right out of Takuya's encounter with Bokomon and Neemon episode one of _Digimon Frontier_.**


	2. Not So Secret Origins

The five children and one Digimon stood in the middle of the apple orchard, staring at the farm and the team of Chosen Children in front of them. There was, of course, Wallace with Terriermon and Lopmon. Standing next to him was a fifteen-year-old boy with the same platinum blond hair and light blue eyes. He could have been Wallace's brother. Beside him was a small blue penguin-like Digimon. Nearby was a blue-haired, purple-eyed fourteen-year-old with a small white seal-like Digimon over one shoulder. He was messing with the curly brown hair of a fifteen-year-old girl with her glasses-framed green eyes glued to a book. Her red-and-purple Digimon threatened the boy, who quickly stopped.

"Guys," Wallace interrupted, pointing out his friends, "meet the Chosen Children: Wind Lord Paul Campbell, Sea Lord Al Kingston, and Lady of Earth Maureen Brown. Chosen Children, meet the new Fire Lord, Sam Roberts. And his friends, Lou Stoneheart, Michael Godwin, Steve Smith, and Maria Sanchez."

"Nice to meet you," Maureen greeted, putting down her book. She looked at Maria and offered a reassuring smile. "If there's anything you want to talk about that you don't feel comfortable talking to your brothers about, you can come to me."

"She's a little spacey," admitted her Digimon, "but she listens."

Paul stepped forward and informed Sam, "As Wallace and Al are so fond of saying, I run this team a lot like how Zordon runs the Power Rangers." He was met with several raised eyebrows from Sam and his friends. "Basically, it's the same rules. Number one: Don't use your powers for personal gain."

"Abuse them all you want," Al amended. "That's the fun of it."

"Number two: Don't escalate a battle unless you have to."

"They're beating the shit out of you, you beat the shit out of them," Al retorted. "It's only fair."

"Get the civilians out though," Maureen added.

"And number three: Keep your identity a secret."

"Walk around town bragging about this," Al advised.

"I think I like this guy," Steve whispered to Michael, who chuckled.

"So what do you say?" Wallace questioned. Everyone focused on Sam. "Are you in? You can always work independently in Manhattan; no one said you _had_ to join a team—we've got wanderers. But it might be easier if we're all together."

"We don't have to leave out your friends either," Al added.

"They can be more help than we think," Maureen agreed.

"All right," Sam decided, nodding. "But we're not leaving these guys out of anything. They're in it too."

Paul extended a hand, and Sam shook it. "Welcome to the team."

Inquisition Diaries  
By Akino Ame  
Based on "Digital City Diaries" by Shaun Garin and Ryan Griffin  
Disclaimer: _Digimon_ belongs to Toei Entertainment and is distributed by Disney  
Warning: This is rated T for DCD and "Survival Diaries" stuff and contains spoilers for both

Entry Two: "Not-So-Secret Origins"

As Sam and his friends quickly learned, the Cherub family farm, _Summer Memory II_, served as base of operations for the New York team and a convenient place to keep the Digimon when they needed to stay in the Real World for an extended period of time. They were quickly introduced to Elecmon, Gomamon, and Penmon and reintroduced to Terriermon and Lopmon before the Chosen sat them down in a few chairs and took their own seats near a computer. Right away, the new Digi-destined and support group could smell a lecture.

"As we've explained, we were chosen to handle the crisis in the Tal Veras area of the Digital World," Paul began. "The mission started to go horribly wrong, and our friend Colin tried to hold off Vamdemon long enough for us to escape. He came dangerously close to U-Factoring during the battle, and finally used his Life Siphon ability to transfer what remained of his life to his partner, Asuramon. The rest of us then took down Vamdemon by evolving all of our Digimon to their Perfection levels—and Wallace jogressing his to one of their Ultimate levels, SaintGalgomon. The Fire Bracer we left in Jijimon's care. A couple of days ago, it disappeared, and there were no signs of a break-in. We could only assume that it had found a worthy bearer. That would be you, Sam."

"All right," Sam replied hesitantly. "But what exactly are the bracers?"

"I'll handle this," Al volunteered. "Evolving a Digimon past the Adult level isn't easy. Most teams have an evolution device to help. For Odaiba, it's the crests; Edmonton has some random objects we haven't exactly sorted into a group yet... Basically, it's an item of power that provides the necessary power for such a large-scale evolution. You should see Odaiba show off sometime—they have probably the largest amount of Ultimates and beyond in the world.

"Our team has the Force Bracers—five bracers with powers based off of the Western elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. The fifth is Spirit, the soul, the heart, the intangible force that gives a drive to live."

"Sounds like Captain Planet," Steve whispered, getting a snicker out of Michael. Al, meanwhile, grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, Steve, it's exactly like that. Only our powers don't combine for any specific purpose. And even if they did, we're afraid of risking Carter from Edmonton or Koushiro from Odaiba finding out. They're the mad geniuses of their respective teams, and they'd go crazy trying to experiment on us."

"So what's jogressing?" Maria asked. "And U-Factoring?"

"Jogress is a term used to describe the joint evolution of two Digimon to create a higher level one," Maureen explained. "Odaiba, again, is the best example just by the sheer number of things possible there."

"There's got to be something in the water," Al said with a grin. "Taichi and Yamato can jogress their partners, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon to become Omegamon, then evolve him to Susanoomon. They can also pull off a partner jogress, which is just what it sounds like: a human jogressing with a Digimon. The Taichi/WarGreymon hybrid is called AncientGreymon, and the Yamato/MetalGarurumon hybrid is AncientGarurumon. And I don't even want to mention Hikari."

"Okay, but what about U-Factoring?" Lou added.

"Now this can be something dangerous," Paul warned. "As you know, there are two classifications for the partnered humans: Chosen Children and Digi-destined. Chosen Children have some kind of supernatural ability—a power of some sort that no one can seem to explain. No one's really sure if it's caused by a connection to the Digital World or if it creates the connection. Digi-destined are your average, run-of-the-mill kids. But both are capable of the U-Factor.

"I forget who came up with the name, but U-Factor is short for 'Uberfy-Factor,' a point when a Chosen Child's powers become insanely strong. It's a one-time only thing that happens only when the Chosen's life is in extreme danger that even their Digimon can't get them out of. For a Digi-destined, it results in powers; but for a Chosen, it can lead to loss of control over their powers or worse. The side-effects are usually ironic in nature, such as the time Dr. Doolittle—James, in Edmonton, who can talk to animals—wound up turning himself into a were-jaguar. He still can't completely control the transformation."

"What do you mean 'completely'?" Al quipped. "He can't control it at all, last time he complained."

"But in all seriousness," Paul continued, "for certain people, a U-Factor is dangerous. For some of us, it could be deadly, and we would definitely die. If Hikari from Odaiba U-Factored, she could take out the entire world. If it was Wallace…well, his power is Fate Manipulation, which allows him to alter the destiny of anyone he chooses—to a certain degree. We're not sure what would happen, but it's possible he'd be a god."

Sam shot a glance to his new friend, the kid he'd thought to be entirely out of his mind. There was a sudden serious look on Wallace's face at the mention of what he was capable of. Had Sam known beforehand that Wallace was possibly that dangerous, he would have held off his talk with Lou to help him fight off that Cerberumon.

"Don't be like that," Maureen said suddenly, making him look up in surprise. "Sorry, my power's empathy. I can pick up on these things easily. But don't worry about Wallace. He can take care of himself. And he's got Paul and his Digimon watching out for him."

"Some other things you should know," Wallace added, quickly changing the subject, "there are times where we openly interfere with the Real World. For example, do you remember the planes heading for the World Trade Center in 2001?"

"How can we forget?" Michael replied. "That's the whole reason why Bush ran into war with Iraq and Afghanistan."

"We're the ones that stopped the planes from crashing," Wallace informed. "Paul got the premonitions a few hours before it started. I managed to get the terrorists off of two planes headed for Washington, making sure airport security caught them and the FBI found out who they were. Then the Digimon caught the planes as they were about to crash and brought them to a safe landing in the water. While Whamon helped ferry the passengers to safety, Deramon and Garudamon gave the on-board terrorists hell." There was a grin on his face as he recounted this. "Good times."

"Everything you need to know about the Digi-destined is on this disk," Paul informed, holding up a CD-ROM. "Koushiro made these for the new recruits, but Maureen thought it would go over better if we talked to you first. It contains a link to the messageboard, so you can introduce yourself and the support staff to the other Chosen and Digi-destined all over the world.

"However, there's one file on the disk you shouldn't touch yet. It's called 'An Extensive History of Chosen Events 1999-2021.' Wallace's Fate Manipulation can prevent you from reading it, but we wanted you to know first."

"Why not?" Michael asked.

"Think about it this way," Al replied. "This team has someone who can see the future—that's Paul, someone who can manipulate the future: Wallace, and someone who is in tune with others' emotions: Maureen. If they say that you shouldn't see the events of a possible future out of fear that it could cause some serious psychological damage, then don't do it. I have healing abilities, but I can't take care of that. So keep that in mind."

"When can we open it?" Steve asked.

Paul closed his eyes. "2005 to 2006. Definitely before March 31, 2005 and June 18, 2006." Sam and the support staff gave him a few odd looks with the extremely specific dates, but they trusted his judgment. "That's as much as I know for now—the future changes a lot, so certain things may happen to change that."

"Don't feel too bad about it, though," Maureen cautioned. "He hasn't even told us what's in that file. And he only knows because he had ominous feelings when we saw the Edmonton team a while back, when they got that history together."

"Anyway, we can show you guys the messageboard now if you want," Wallace said. "The computer here is a piece of crap, though. Did one of you bring a computer?"

"Right here," Steve replied, taking his laptop out of his backpack. He started it up and typed in his password before handing it over to Paul, who put in the CD-ROM.

"All right, I set up an account already for you, once we realized the Fire Bracer was missing," Paul explained, handing the computer to Sam. "Just put in an introductory message here, and explain to everyone that your friends are signing up as support staff. We've got a couple of support members on there already, so no one'll think twice about it."

"Okay," Sam answered, typing out a message. "Do I need to set up accounts for them now?"

"Nope," Maureen assured. "Koushiro will set up an e-mail account for each of them on his server, once he sees that message. Their board accounts will come right after that."

"Just have some fun looking around," Al advised. "Sometimes we work with other teams, like Edmonton, so it helps if you know a bit about the guys you might meet."

The support staff crowded around Sam as he looked through the messageboard. Edmonton and Odaiba were apparently hotspots of activity, with powerful Chosen Children and constant attacks. The powerhouses were definitely in Odaiba, though, with Yagami Taichi, Takaishi Yamato, Yagami Hikari, Ishida Takeru, Motomiya Daisuke, and Ichijouji Ken. Carter Windham in Edmonton had created a sticky thread for the powers of different Chosen and the U-Factors that had just occurred. But for Edmonton's team, there was a link to another thread, set up by Sean Gagne. It detailed cross-world adventures the Edmonton team had gone through not very long ago, resulting in new abilities for them. Steve's jaw dropped about ten feet.

"Konoha? Amestris?" Lou asked. "Konoha's from _Naruto, _and isn't Amestris the name of the country in _Full Metal Alchemist_?"

Wallace grinned. "You'd be surprised what's beyond our world."

"Oh, God," Steve moaned. "Alchemists and wizards and ninjas—oh my! Why can't we have the fun stuff?"

* * *

A circle of dark figures sat around a table in a dark room. Something very serious had come up that they needed to discuss.

"A new Digi-destined has been discovered," the leader noticed. "The new Fire Lord."

"That power will give us much trouble," another realized. "It's the most powerful of the Force Bracers."

"I thought that made it difficult to control," a third commented.

"The bracers are powered by the forces of the very elements themselves," the second explained. "None of them are simple to control but Spirit. But by its very nature, Fire consumes the power of he who holds it. A non-powered human bearing that bracer has no need to fear that danger, even if he gains powers by that so-called 'U-Factor.'"

"Yes," the leader agreed. "The Force Bracers open the bearer to that specific element. A U-Factor of a non-powered Digi-destined carrying one would be dictated by that bracer's element. A Chosen Child bearing anything but Spirit would be unable to survive the U-Factor. The element would overpower the natural power and tear the user apart. That is what happened with the previous Fire Lord. We must be very careful around this one. Any other questions?"

"I have one," a fourth commented. "Why is it so dark in here?"

The leader groaned, "So sue me! The fuse blew out." Everyone else began snickering, and someone asked, "How many evil overlords does it take to change a lightbulb?" The leader rubbed his temples and asked, "Any relevant questions?" No one asked anything else, and the snickering calmed down. "Good. Now, first we must test the Chosen Children. I have a plan for how we can determine their teamwork…"


End file.
